Photos of the Day - A Trio of Mountain Gorillas

It’s been a crazy 2013 so far, and I haven’t done a good job of posting timely and useful content on this blog. In an attempt to even it all out, how about a Photo of the Day entry with 3 images? But seriously, when life and business get busy the first thing that typically falls off is posting to this blog.

Last month I lead a safari into the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda, and had some amazing experiences wtih the resident mountain gorillas. This year’s hikes were quite difficult, however the resulting photographic opportunities were over-the-top amazing. I couldn’t be happier, and I have included just a few of the images down below. For some reason I ended up preferring to use black and white over processing the images in color, likely because I have a better ability to create a sense of mood without having to stay in the ‘color box’, otherwise known as reality. I can get much more aggressive with dodging and burning without breaking too many rules that color photographs somehow are judged by.

I will be leading a trip back to the Virunga Mountains for mountain gorillas in 2014, and the trip will also include trekking for wild chimpanzees as well. It will be a 1-2 primate combination, limited to only 7 people.

Silverback

Nikon D800E, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/400 @ f/2.8, ISO 1600

Silverback

Nikon D800E, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/250 @ f/2.8, ISO 1600

Silverback

Nikon D800E, 70-200mm f/2.8, 1/400 @ f/2.8, ISO 2500

Photo of the Day - Serengeti Giraffes

Serengeti Giraffes and Clouds

Singita Grumeti Reserves, Tanzania. May 2013

Phase One DF, IQ160 digital back, Schneider 240mm. 1/320 @ f/11, ISO 100

Photo of the Day - Kolmanskop, Namibia

Sand, Doorways and Golden Light

Kolmanskop, Namibia. September 2012

Phase One DF, IQ160 digital back, 28mm lens, 1.6sec @ f/11, ISO 50

I am only days away from having all of the details planned out for a 2014 trip to Namibia. This trip will be done ‘overland’ style, which means we will take the opportunity to drive the vast country in private Land Cruisers. We will have more flexibility to stop to take photos along the way, as well as an ability to stop at locations that don’t have airstrips nearby. I am very excited to return to Namibia, a country that I have photographed many times since 2006, and my co-leader will be my good friend and talented photographer Joshua Holko. We will limit this trip to only 10 participants, so be thinking if this is something you might be interested in prior to the announcement. We will be in Namibia during the best time of the year for good clouds; late March and early April, and will have the details posted online soon.

Photo of the Day - Skyline Arch and Snow

Skyline Arch and Snow, Arches National Park, Utah

Phase One IQ160 digital back, 75-150mm lens, 1.6sec @ f/16, ISO 50

Photo of the Day - Leopard In A Tree

Leopard In A Tree

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. February 2012

Pentax 645D, 400mm f/5.6, 1/250 @ f/5.6, ISO 400

Photo of the Day - Leopard In The Grass

Leopard In The Grass

Singita Sabi Sand, South Africa. June 2012

Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/400 @ f/5.6, ISO 800

Photo of the Day - Cape Buffalo

Cape Buffalo Stare, Singita Sabi Sand, South Africa. June 2012

Nikon D800, 300mm f/2.8 VRII, 1/250 @ f/8, ISO 400. Hand held

Photo of the Day - Lilac Breasted Roller

Lilac Breasted Roller

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

I have been digging through some of my Lightroom catalog images of the past few weeks, looking for images that need to be reprocessed with the latest Lightroom 4 processing engine. Here is an image that I took back in June 2006, and it is likely my favorite image of a lilac breasted roller. The lilac breasted roller is most striking when its wings are spread out, and I am always on the hunt for one who is on a perch near eye level in the hope that it will fly off in a side or downward direction as to get the tops of the wings. With this image I used a flash to stop the action, but I did drag the shutter a little bit to show a sense of action and speed. I could have used a high speed sync on the flash, but I decided to keep the shutter a 1/200 sec to strike the balance between sharpness and blur.